"Now then, Bel, just listen to what I have to tell the hoteliers, and then later, when the press want to hear from us, give them the normal lines about seeking consensus, lengthening the tourism season, diverting tourists away from the summer to the low season thanks to the success of the 'Better in Winter' campaign, redistributing wealth, creating jobs and so on. Have you got that?"
"Yes, I think so, Francina. But are you saying that I shouldn't say anything to the hoteliers?"
"That is exactly what I'm saying, Bel. Look, you may be the tourism minister, but you've barely been in the job a month, which is not enough time for you to have the faintest idea what you're talking about other than spouting the normal nonsense to the press like myself and every other minister."
"Oh, very well, but I thought this trip was going to be my chance to demonstrate what a firm grip I have on tourism in pursuit of sustainability and securing the future of the environment and the wealth of the citizens."
"You may have thought that, Bel, but the hoteliers aren't going to fall for you being even remotely in charge or having a firm grip on anything. If you must, when it comes to the press, you can trot out some percentage of what the tourist tax will cost the typical family of four relative to the total cost of the holiday. Biel used to do that, which would stun them all into silence for a moment or two."
"But I don't know what the cost of a holiday is for a typical family of four."
"Quite. That's why you're the tourism minister. Now, are we ready for the hoteliers?"
"Yes, Francina."
And so, alas poor Bel, who sat round the table, maintaining a respectful silence as the hoteliers trained their eyes only on Francina. But it wasn't all a waste of time. There were the various photo opportunities. Look, there's the delegation from (insert the town hall as applicable), time for a photo with them. Not that Bel was left on her own. Oh no, all the others were in the photos as well. Francina, Cosmic Bonet of the Council, Mercedes of the Council, Mick of the Council, and anyone else they could drag in.
For the town halls, what a splendid event the Fitur fair was. My, how the media drool over all this stuff. "Mr (Ms) Mayor, what is your assessment of your participation at this year's fair?" "It has been extremely positive. A great success." Meanwhile, and out of view, the massive piles of newly printed brochures for cultural tourism in whatever municipality were remaining stubbornly massive.
Although Mick, Mercedes and Cosmic had taken themselves off to Madrid to, for instance, demonstrate how Mallorca inspires culture (about which we heard not a botifarró), they had more urgent, headline-grabbing matters to attend to back in Palma. Yes, the Great Map Of Mallorca's Zones was unveiled, a cartographer's delight of colour coding, each colour designed to strike sorrow or joy into the hearts of prospective owners of holiday rental accommodation.
"Now then, the red zones are ... ?" "They're saturated." "Ok, and the purple ones?" "They're high tourism pressure." "Isn't that the same thing?" "No, red is saturated and purple is high tourism pressure." "But they amount to the same thing." "Well, yes, sort of." "The grey areas - and I'm not referring to the whole thinking behind zoning - what are they for?" "They're industrial estates." "Industrial estates?" "Industrial estates." "Since when have car showrooms been likely holiday rental accommodation?" "Have you looked on Airbnb lately?"
What a fabulous week it was for tourism, but less than fabulous for Bel, whose thunder was stolen in Madrid and then later in Palma when the Great Map was put on display.
Still, we can now expect her to refer to the Great Map when explaining how sustainability is to be assured, how wealth is to be redistributed to the citizens, how the land (our land) will be saved, how jobs will be created ... . What she probably won't be saying is anything about the tourist tax percentage of the total cost of the holiday for a family of four. Where's Biel when we need him?
Showing posts with label FITUR. Show all posts
Showing posts with label FITUR. Show all posts
Sunday, January 21, 2018
Saturday, January 20, 2018
Gloves Off: Rentals And Tax Handbagging
When the tourism industry troops off for its away days in London for the World Travel Market, an impression given is that the industry doesn't air its dirty linen. The impression is of course a false one. The hoteliers and tour operators are happy with the tourist tax? They most certainly are not, though they tend to confine their criticisms to places behind closed doors. At the last fair, however, they came out with the line about one million tourists being lost.
A big difference between, say, the London fair and the one held in Madrid is that the latter is, fairly obviously, a Spanish affair. Sure, there is a big international element, but Madrid provides way more of an assessment of Spanish issues than London, Berlin and others ever will do. As such, therefore, London is not truly representative, and by and large the whole of the industry prefers to keep it that way. A full-on public barney doesn't look good and only creates negative publicity.
London also doesn't have a pre-fair conference quite like Madrid has with the Exceltur forum. Organised on behalf of the tourism industry elite (which Exceltur represents), it offers a stage for what one might describe as full and frank discussions. The Spanish media is engrossed, but other media pay scant attention. It is only Madrid, after all, and they all speak Spanish, unless someone attempts to sneak in some Catalan.
This is to demean the importance of Fitur. Much though London or Berlin might consider themselves to be the centres of the European tourism universe, Madrid is the real centre. The UN's World Tourism Organisation is based in Madrid, the capital of the country that receives more tourists than any other on the planet with the exception of France. Despite the Catalonia effect, Spain leapt above the US last year. The Trump effect, the negative Trump effect, was a key reason why.
The Spanish tourism universe doesn't of course solely revolve around the Balearics, but given that the islands account for more than 15% of the annual foreign tourist total, then what happens in the Balearics matters. The islands are the tourism arguments in relatively large microcosm, and these Balearic arguments tend to be heard more loudly than those of any other region of Spain. They were being given full voice at the Exceltur conference. The foreign media and indeed foreign tourists are naturally familiar with some of these arguments, but if they aren't, then they most certainly would have been if they had been paying attention to Madrid.
President Armengol was basically subjected to a complete handbagging. It was led by two of Mallorca's leading hoteliers - the baron of Meliá, Gabriel Escarrer, and the baroness of Riu, Carmen Riu. They laid into her over the tourist tax and the holiday rentals legislation. With the latter, it was perhaps odd to hear that the government was being accused of not being restrictive enough, but the point was nevertheless emphasised, as if it needed to be: the hoteliers want tight regulation of the rentals sector.
On top of this, Armengol was reprimanded by José María González, the president of Europcar, who was supposedly moderating the session. His beef had to do with government interference in the hire-car sector, including the plan for electric vehicles. Then there was the president of the Baleària shipping company, Adolfo Utor. It was illogical, he said, to have a tourist tax which supposedly is going to reduce tourist numbers, while the government is at the same time looking for better subventions for travelling to the islands and also wanting there to be a cut to the tourist rate of IVA (VAT).
The impression of all this is far from being a false one. Most of the tourism industry, and not just the hoteliers, seems to finally be losing its patience and rag with the Balearic government. Such an impression wouldn't be conveyed at other fairs, but at Madrid it can be, as it is mainly one for a domestic audience. But a problem for the hoteliers, and not only those in Mallorca, as the issue applies widely in Spain, is that the more they go on the offensive over questions such as holiday rentals, the more they can be (and are) accused of just looking after their own greedy interests.
Yet they do have a substantial amount of support. It is curious support because much of it comes from an entirely different political and social perspective. While the national tourism minister, Álvaro Nadal (Partido Popular), can coincide with the hoteliers in blaming holiday rentals for tourism saturation, so left-wing governments and organisations level the same blame.
But the hoteliers would basically like an industry cast in a PP image. A further problem for them, however, is now being able to rely on the PP at elections. Rather than handbaggings, maybe there needs to be more glad-handing.
A big difference between, say, the London fair and the one held in Madrid is that the latter is, fairly obviously, a Spanish affair. Sure, there is a big international element, but Madrid provides way more of an assessment of Spanish issues than London, Berlin and others ever will do. As such, therefore, London is not truly representative, and by and large the whole of the industry prefers to keep it that way. A full-on public barney doesn't look good and only creates negative publicity.
London also doesn't have a pre-fair conference quite like Madrid has with the Exceltur forum. Organised on behalf of the tourism industry elite (which Exceltur represents), it offers a stage for what one might describe as full and frank discussions. The Spanish media is engrossed, but other media pay scant attention. It is only Madrid, after all, and they all speak Spanish, unless someone attempts to sneak in some Catalan.
This is to demean the importance of Fitur. Much though London or Berlin might consider themselves to be the centres of the European tourism universe, Madrid is the real centre. The UN's World Tourism Organisation is based in Madrid, the capital of the country that receives more tourists than any other on the planet with the exception of France. Despite the Catalonia effect, Spain leapt above the US last year. The Trump effect, the negative Trump effect, was a key reason why.
The Spanish tourism universe doesn't of course solely revolve around the Balearics, but given that the islands account for more than 15% of the annual foreign tourist total, then what happens in the Balearics matters. The islands are the tourism arguments in relatively large microcosm, and these Balearic arguments tend to be heard more loudly than those of any other region of Spain. They were being given full voice at the Exceltur conference. The foreign media and indeed foreign tourists are naturally familiar with some of these arguments, but if they aren't, then they most certainly would have been if they had been paying attention to Madrid.
President Armengol was basically subjected to a complete handbagging. It was led by two of Mallorca's leading hoteliers - the baron of Meliá, Gabriel Escarrer, and the baroness of Riu, Carmen Riu. They laid into her over the tourist tax and the holiday rentals legislation. With the latter, it was perhaps odd to hear that the government was being accused of not being restrictive enough, but the point was nevertheless emphasised, as if it needed to be: the hoteliers want tight regulation of the rentals sector.
On top of this, Armengol was reprimanded by José María González, the president of Europcar, who was supposedly moderating the session. His beef had to do with government interference in the hire-car sector, including the plan for electric vehicles. Then there was the president of the Baleària shipping company, Adolfo Utor. It was illogical, he said, to have a tourist tax which supposedly is going to reduce tourist numbers, while the government is at the same time looking for better subventions for travelling to the islands and also wanting there to be a cut to the tourist rate of IVA (VAT).
The impression of all this is far from being a false one. Most of the tourism industry, and not just the hoteliers, seems to finally be losing its patience and rag with the Balearic government. Such an impression wouldn't be conveyed at other fairs, but at Madrid it can be, as it is mainly one for a domestic audience. But a problem for the hoteliers, and not only those in Mallorca, as the issue applies widely in Spain, is that the more they go on the offensive over questions such as holiday rentals, the more they can be (and are) accused of just looking after their own greedy interests.
Yet they do have a substantial amount of support. It is curious support because much of it comes from an entirely different political and social perspective. While the national tourism minister, Álvaro Nadal (Partido Popular), can coincide with the hoteliers in blaming holiday rentals for tourism saturation, so left-wing governments and organisations level the same blame.
But the hoteliers would basically like an industry cast in a PP image. A further problem for them, however, is now being able to rely on the PP at elections. Rather than handbaggings, maybe there needs to be more glad-handing.
Friday, January 13, 2017
Mallorca Goes To Madrid
Much to the disgust of Podemos, who have wanted the tourism promotional budget to be slashed to one-sixth of its already meagre funding, the Balearics will unveil a new stand and a new message: "Better in Winter". As the representatives set off for Madrid, let's hope there is no need for snow to be swept off the runway in Palma (the forecast suggests that there may well be snow at sea level next week). Better in winter; it can rather depend.
We all know, of course, why this slogan has been adopted. We will find out whether the current desire to press for increased winter tourism works or if it is just another vain attempt largely designed to try and prove to a sceptical public that the tourism ministry knows what it is doing and is indeed genuinely committed to winter expansion. There are those who would prefer that the ministry failed. What was it that Laura Camargo of Podemos said about workers not having to work all year round? Seasonality, if it means that workers can relax for several months and that there aren't ever more tourists, is a good thing where certain politicians and political ideologies are concerned.
While the ministry, or to be specific the Balearic Tourism Agency (ATB), is telling the Spanish traveller that things are better in winter, the Council of Mallorca, which has still yet to be formally handed tourism promotion responsibilities, is making a pre-emptive promotional strike. Long-time observers of the island's promotion will feel that this has long been something of a comedy. The Council seems inclined to agree. It's using the comic device to promote Mallorca.
Actually, that's unkind. The initiative is different. It's rather charming. It makes one wonder why such a touch of innovation has proved to be beyond the ATB. But while the Council, similar to the government in this regard, wishes to promote cultural, sport and nature tourism, the images don't all seem to tally with this. There is still a hint of that old stand-by, sun and beach. Better in summer. There again, an image of three people in a small boat steering themselves across a turquoise sea to an unspoiled beach with velvety white sand backed by dunes is indicative of ... . Indicative of what precisely? Nature? Presumably. It looks more like an idyllic summertime promotion for the seeker after beach and sun. Moreover, it is an unspoiled beach of the type that the "saturationist" lobby maintains is being overrun and environmentally damaged. Still, at least the boat is environmentally correct: it doesn't have an engine.
Meanwhile, the comic map of Mallorca does highlight the culture, sport and tourism. There are religious buildings, a windmill, lighthouses, castles, Moors v. Christians (the Santa Ponsa version). There are people kayaking, cycling and hang-gliding. There are flowers and palm trees (unaffected by the red beetle), while Mallorca is uniformly green except for splashes of lighter green. One wishes the Council well. It's not a bad idea at all - winter or summer.
Saturday, January 23, 2016
The Critics Of Fitur: Tourist tax
If one looks back to the Madrid Fitur travel and tourism fairs of 2014 and 2015, the main talk then was of optimistic recovery, of new projects and of a generally more positive outlook for the tourism industry, following the years of crisis.
Fairs such as Fitur typically don't make waves. For the Balearics the greatest controversies - if you can call them such - have tended in recent years to be reserved for the parsimonious nature of exhibition stands. Former tourism minister Carlos Delgado made drastic cuts to the spending on fairs - the visual appearance and size of stands in particular - and was criticised for having done so by the likes of Ibiza. The controversies are now of a rather different order: there was no tourist tax looming on the summer season horizon two years ago.
If Biel Barceló, the tourism minister, truly believed that he left the World Travel Market in London last November having heard little criticism of the tourist tax, he couldn't help but hear such criticism in Madrid. He can rebuff this by insisting that opposition is, to use his word, artificial, but audiences in Madrid heard this opposition uttered with plain speaking by Meliá, the Barceló hotel group and the confederation that represents the non-hotel tourist businesses. The criticisms of this latter group are particularly pertinent. The tourist tax means that there might be less spending by tourists, and it will be restaurants, clubs, attractions and others which bear the brunt.
President Armengol chose to home in on the criticisms of Mariano Rajoy. It was irresponsible of him to cause potential harm to Balearic tourism. The fact was that Rajoy didn't specifically mention the tourist tax, while his references to obstacles being erected in front of tourism were equally applicable to administrations such as the ones in Madrid and Barcelona. Armengol may have been right to have pointed to the increase in IVA (VAT) under Rajoy, but as has been said many times, IVA does not generate the same level of interest among tourists. Typically, they will in fact be unaware of it.
There is a further and more important political context to this year's Fitur. It was why King Felipe didn't attend, which he normally would do. He is heavily involved in attempting to sort out some agreement for government, and the very fact of his non-attendance showed just how different Fitur is this year to two years ago. Then, there was some instability with the monarchy, but there wasn't instability on the political front. At the backs of the minds of many of those in Madrid would have been concerns about what might come to pass.
For now, however, everything remains rosy. ABTA has issued its forecasts for the current year, and Spain is going to be booming. Magalluf has been singled out for particular mention in this regard on account of its market repositioning. The boss of Globalia, Juan José Hidalgo, says there will be no free rooms this summer, and he was talking about Mallorca in particular. Things will be getting into full swing earlier as well: in April, Hidalgo believes. Meliá concede that the season could be better than last year. The Piñero group anticipate 5% growth. Not even the Turkish government's significant discounts for airlines this spring are likely to dent Mallorca's prospects.
It is of course what lies beyond this current year which is causing the anxiety. Ongoing instability elsewhere would probably allay much of this, but it remains to be seen how the tourist-consumer reacts not only to the tax but also to increased prices for Mallorca. If things were to stabilise elsewhere - a big if - then governmental intervention in other countries will guarantee dirt cheap prices to go alongside the grand palaces of new hotels.
Fairs such as Fitur typically don't make waves. For the Balearics the greatest controversies - if you can call them such - have tended in recent years to be reserved for the parsimonious nature of exhibition stands. Former tourism minister Carlos Delgado made drastic cuts to the spending on fairs - the visual appearance and size of stands in particular - and was criticised for having done so by the likes of Ibiza. The controversies are now of a rather different order: there was no tourist tax looming on the summer season horizon two years ago.
If Biel Barceló, the tourism minister, truly believed that he left the World Travel Market in London last November having heard little criticism of the tourist tax, he couldn't help but hear such criticism in Madrid. He can rebuff this by insisting that opposition is, to use his word, artificial, but audiences in Madrid heard this opposition uttered with plain speaking by Meliá, the Barceló hotel group and the confederation that represents the non-hotel tourist businesses. The criticisms of this latter group are particularly pertinent. The tourist tax means that there might be less spending by tourists, and it will be restaurants, clubs, attractions and others which bear the brunt.
President Armengol chose to home in on the criticisms of Mariano Rajoy. It was irresponsible of him to cause potential harm to Balearic tourism. The fact was that Rajoy didn't specifically mention the tourist tax, while his references to obstacles being erected in front of tourism were equally applicable to administrations such as the ones in Madrid and Barcelona. Armengol may have been right to have pointed to the increase in IVA (VAT) under Rajoy, but as has been said many times, IVA does not generate the same level of interest among tourists. Typically, they will in fact be unaware of it.
There is a further and more important political context to this year's Fitur. It was why King Felipe didn't attend, which he normally would do. He is heavily involved in attempting to sort out some agreement for government, and the very fact of his non-attendance showed just how different Fitur is this year to two years ago. Then, there was some instability with the monarchy, but there wasn't instability on the political front. At the backs of the minds of many of those in Madrid would have been concerns about what might come to pass.
For now, however, everything remains rosy. ABTA has issued its forecasts for the current year, and Spain is going to be booming. Magalluf has been singled out for particular mention in this regard on account of its market repositioning. The boss of Globalia, Juan José Hidalgo, says there will be no free rooms this summer, and he was talking about Mallorca in particular. Things will be getting into full swing earlier as well: in April, Hidalgo believes. Meliá concede that the season could be better than last year. The Piñero group anticipate 5% growth. Not even the Turkish government's significant discounts for airlines this spring are likely to dent Mallorca's prospects.
It is of course what lies beyond this current year which is causing the anxiety. Ongoing instability elsewhere would probably allay much of this, but it remains to be seen how the tourist-consumer reacts not only to the tax but also to increased prices for Mallorca. If things were to stabilise elsewhere - a big if - then governmental intervention in other countries will guarantee dirt cheap prices to go alongside the grand palaces of new hotels.
Friday, February 06, 2015
All The Fun Of The Tourism Fair
The Fitur tourism fair in Madrid was deemed a great success on account of a record turnout of 225,000 visitors. But its success can be measured in other ways, such as the massive following the fair attracted on social networks. While much of this will have been related to Fitur-specific events, not all of it will have been. There will have been exposure for destinations like Mallorca as well. The travel trade fair has always been the place for networking, contact-making and deal-making but now it isn't necessary to actually be there; it's all available through social media. Of course, it still does help to be able to do things face-to-face rather than via "Facetime", and for those who have wondered whether the regional tourism ministry ever talks to airlines and tour operators (which it does in any event), Fitur and other travel fairs provide the evidence: all the big players and not so big players gather.
The ministry does, with some justification, get criticised for its emphasis on travel fairs to the virtual exclusion of all other promotional means; its promotion budget is heavily geared towards fairs. If all that was happening was that some potential tourist was wandering onto the stand, then the criticism would be even more valid. But this, the public's participation in fairs, is only a part of what is happening. There is now a vast public which is being spoken to because of the innovations that fairs have introduced in recent years. One of these is the presence of bloggers. There were over 400 accredited bloggers from 20 countries at Fitur, and what they do is blog not only about the fair but also about what exhibitors are offering. The Balearics tourism ministry devotes part of its promotion budget to just these social media intermediaries. Their role may seem somewhat obscure, while social media, as a means of promotion, may seem to lack excitement when compared with the pizzazz of an expensive television advert, but they are representative of ways in which promotion has altered. They channel opinion, reviews and recommendations to the contemporary social media-savvy tourist, and it is acknowledged and understood that communication that is far more intimate than any advert (be it film or print) and which is review and recommendation-based is now the prime source of tourist decision-making.
All the news coming out of Fitur was positive for Mallorca and for the Balearics, even if the actual level of good news seemed to vary. On domestic Spanish tourism, for example, at one point there was talk of an increase between 10% and 15% this summer. Then it went up to 25%. It's difficult to understand how a forecast can fluctuate so significantly in the space of two days, but whoever said that such forecasting was an exact science?
The domestic market is one of the three main tourist markets, along with the British and the German, that Mallorca depends upon, and it has, fairly obviously, been in the doldrums for a few years. There was some recovery last year, but this is expected to be very much more significant in 2015. The forecast comes with a cautionary word or two, though. Spaniards have acquired sufficient confidence to throw off the shackles which were stopping them travelling on holiday, but they aren't necessarily going to be spending any more. This confidence, however, would be dented were there to be some return to economic uncertainty this year.
An interesting point about the domestic market is that less than a third of it stays in hotels. This isn't a recent phenomenon brought about by the increased availability of private accommodation. It's how it has tended to be.
The other two main markets are both expected to show strong growth in 2015. Sales campaigns in both Britain and Germany are said to be surpassing expectations. And to add to this positive news is the belief that the season will be longer this year with more hotels opening in March (and so in time for Easter in early April). For the British market, Jet2 is to begin operations by the end of March.
While this is all very positive, we will find out just how well-founded the optimism really is. Last year, there was at one time talk of an exceptional spring, only for this talk to turn to despair; May was a poor month, certainly for the hoteliers.
The ministry does, with some justification, get criticised for its emphasis on travel fairs to the virtual exclusion of all other promotional means; its promotion budget is heavily geared towards fairs. If all that was happening was that some potential tourist was wandering onto the stand, then the criticism would be even more valid. But this, the public's participation in fairs, is only a part of what is happening. There is now a vast public which is being spoken to because of the innovations that fairs have introduced in recent years. One of these is the presence of bloggers. There were over 400 accredited bloggers from 20 countries at Fitur, and what they do is blog not only about the fair but also about what exhibitors are offering. The Balearics tourism ministry devotes part of its promotion budget to just these social media intermediaries. Their role may seem somewhat obscure, while social media, as a means of promotion, may seem to lack excitement when compared with the pizzazz of an expensive television advert, but they are representative of ways in which promotion has altered. They channel opinion, reviews and recommendations to the contemporary social media-savvy tourist, and it is acknowledged and understood that communication that is far more intimate than any advert (be it film or print) and which is review and recommendation-based is now the prime source of tourist decision-making.
All the news coming out of Fitur was positive for Mallorca and for the Balearics, even if the actual level of good news seemed to vary. On domestic Spanish tourism, for example, at one point there was talk of an increase between 10% and 15% this summer. Then it went up to 25%. It's difficult to understand how a forecast can fluctuate so significantly in the space of two days, but whoever said that such forecasting was an exact science?
The domestic market is one of the three main tourist markets, along with the British and the German, that Mallorca depends upon, and it has, fairly obviously, been in the doldrums for a few years. There was some recovery last year, but this is expected to be very much more significant in 2015. The forecast comes with a cautionary word or two, though. Spaniards have acquired sufficient confidence to throw off the shackles which were stopping them travelling on holiday, but they aren't necessarily going to be spending any more. This confidence, however, would be dented were there to be some return to economic uncertainty this year.
An interesting point about the domestic market is that less than a third of it stays in hotels. This isn't a recent phenomenon brought about by the increased availability of private accommodation. It's how it has tended to be.
The other two main markets are both expected to show strong growth in 2015. Sales campaigns in both Britain and Germany are said to be surpassing expectations. And to add to this positive news is the belief that the season will be longer this year with more hotels opening in March (and so in time for Easter in early April). For the British market, Jet2 is to begin operations by the end of March.
While this is all very positive, we will find out just how well-founded the optimism really is. Last year, there was at one time talk of an exceptional spring, only for this talk to turn to despair; May was a poor month, certainly for the hoteliers.
Thursday, February 05, 2015
Don't Go Near The Balearics Stand
Who would be King Felipe and Queen Letizia when you innocently get caught up in a political spat? Following the gathering of the great and good at the Fitur travel/tourism fair in Madrid, the media enjoy offering various Fitur perspectives - expectations for the coming season as revealed at the fair, general tendencies in the tourism industry, this type of thing. And there are also perspectives on who did what or who didn't do what, which is where the royals come in. Felipe and Letizia, regular holidaymakers in Mallorca, didn't drop by the Balearics stand at Fitur. This had never happened before: the Balearics pavilion is always graced with the presence of royalty. Cue, talk of some type of conspiracy.
As it turns out, there was another stand which the royals didn't go to, that for the Canary Islands. Two and two have been put together and the sum of four is that the royals had received orders from the ministry for industry, energy and tourism, José Manuel Soria, for them to not go to either of the stands. Orders!? A minister ordering the royals? Far-fetched though this might seem, a breaking with royal tradition had to be explained somehow. Hence, the Soria theory. And why would he be issuing "orders" to the royals? Because he wanted to punish both the Balearics and the Canaries owing to their opposition to oil prospecting. Remember that Soria does head a vast ministry with occasionally competing interests, such as oil and energy on the one hand and tourism where the waters are crystal clear and the horizons should never be sullied with the sights of oil platforms on the other.
In the Balearic parliament they were engaging in their own post-Fitur debrief (aka slanging match). Spokespeople from Més were convinced that there was no other explanation for the royals' apparent snub of the Balearics stand than the lousy relations between President Bauzá and Soria (indeed it had been reported that Bauzá was "furious" about the alleged veto of the Balearics stand). Clashes over oil prospecting aside, it was being suggested a year or so ago that Bauzá was after Soria's job, and they have studiously managed to avoid being photographed together ever since or even having to meet, as was the case at the large Berlin travel fair in March last year. Both managed to succumb at the same time to a dose of the flu which prevented their travelling.
Does it really matter if the royals give the stand a miss once in a while? Does it even mean a great deal for them to go to the stand? It probably does matter, especially for Balearics' promotion to the domestic tourist market, which is more likely to see photographic evidence of the visit than the international one. These little things might seem just that - little - but they do all add up. Moreover, it needs stressing that the Balearics and the Canaries combine with Catalonia in contributing 60% of all Spain's tourism. This is something which is deserving of royal acknowledgement and should indeed be deserving of political praise, but at present there is a tourism minister, Soria, who has fallen out with the Balearics and with his home islands of the Canaries, while there is a region - Catalonia - about which we are fully aware of governmental tensions. It isn't a terribly healthy state of tourism affairs.
Given that soundings off the Canaries, if not the Balearics as yet, have led Repsol to decide to discontinue exploration - the oil and gas is of insufficient quality to warrant actual drilling - it seems churlish that Soria might still harbour a grudge against the Canaries, one strong enough to issue instructions to the King as regards which stands he should visit or shouldn't. But then, who knows how far petty political vendettas might extend? Certainly not as far as the Canaries' largest hotel chain, Lopesan, which did receive the royals at its stand. And it was the large hotel chains in Mallorca to which Més also turned its parliamentary attention. These large groups dictate government policy on tourism, it was claimed, and so there needs to be a new "tourism model" for the islands. It is hard to disagree with the claim regarding hotelier power, but as for a new model of tourism, was this Més seeking to claim bragging rights on a change in direction after the next election?
They are lining up on the left of centre to be the initiators of such a change, whatever this might be. Should the large hoteliers be concerned? Not really, given the amount they invest in other parts of the globe. By Fitur 2016, will any change have been effected? Doubtful. But by 2017, you never know, Podemos might have scrapped the monarchy. Then no one could argue about which stands are being visited or not.
As it turns out, there was another stand which the royals didn't go to, that for the Canary Islands. Two and two have been put together and the sum of four is that the royals had received orders from the ministry for industry, energy and tourism, José Manuel Soria, for them to not go to either of the stands. Orders!? A minister ordering the royals? Far-fetched though this might seem, a breaking with royal tradition had to be explained somehow. Hence, the Soria theory. And why would he be issuing "orders" to the royals? Because he wanted to punish both the Balearics and the Canaries owing to their opposition to oil prospecting. Remember that Soria does head a vast ministry with occasionally competing interests, such as oil and energy on the one hand and tourism where the waters are crystal clear and the horizons should never be sullied with the sights of oil platforms on the other.
In the Balearic parliament they were engaging in their own post-Fitur debrief (aka slanging match). Spokespeople from Més were convinced that there was no other explanation for the royals' apparent snub of the Balearics stand than the lousy relations between President Bauzá and Soria (indeed it had been reported that Bauzá was "furious" about the alleged veto of the Balearics stand). Clashes over oil prospecting aside, it was being suggested a year or so ago that Bauzá was after Soria's job, and they have studiously managed to avoid being photographed together ever since or even having to meet, as was the case at the large Berlin travel fair in March last year. Both managed to succumb at the same time to a dose of the flu which prevented their travelling.
Does it really matter if the royals give the stand a miss once in a while? Does it even mean a great deal for them to go to the stand? It probably does matter, especially for Balearics' promotion to the domestic tourist market, which is more likely to see photographic evidence of the visit than the international one. These little things might seem just that - little - but they do all add up. Moreover, it needs stressing that the Balearics and the Canaries combine with Catalonia in contributing 60% of all Spain's tourism. This is something which is deserving of royal acknowledgement and should indeed be deserving of political praise, but at present there is a tourism minister, Soria, who has fallen out with the Balearics and with his home islands of the Canaries, while there is a region - Catalonia - about which we are fully aware of governmental tensions. It isn't a terribly healthy state of tourism affairs.
Given that soundings off the Canaries, if not the Balearics as yet, have led Repsol to decide to discontinue exploration - the oil and gas is of insufficient quality to warrant actual drilling - it seems churlish that Soria might still harbour a grudge against the Canaries, one strong enough to issue instructions to the King as regards which stands he should visit or shouldn't. But then, who knows how far petty political vendettas might extend? Certainly not as far as the Canaries' largest hotel chain, Lopesan, which did receive the royals at its stand. And it was the large hotel chains in Mallorca to which Més also turned its parliamentary attention. These large groups dictate government policy on tourism, it was claimed, and so there needs to be a new "tourism model" for the islands. It is hard to disagree with the claim regarding hotelier power, but as for a new model of tourism, was this Més seeking to claim bragging rights on a change in direction after the next election?
They are lining up on the left of centre to be the initiators of such a change, whatever this might be. Should the large hoteliers be concerned? Not really, given the amount they invest in other parts of the globe. By Fitur 2016, will any change have been effected? Doubtful. But by 2017, you never know, Podemos might have scrapped the monarchy. Then no one could argue about which stands are being visited or not.
Friday, January 30, 2015
Tourism Growth And Electioneering
The Balearics tourism industry has been in Madrid this week for Fitur, one of the major tourism/travel fairs of the winter. Fitur is, therefore, an occasion for the islands' industry and government officials to hobnob with tour operators, airlines and others. Deals will be made and announcements will provide evidence that everything is rosy in the Balearic and Spanish tourism gardens. But even before Fitur got underway, there was the Global Tourism Forum, an event which seems specifically designed to allow politicians to say how good things are (well, it is organised by the national ministry for tourism after all). Suitably enough, there was Mariano Rajoy using data which shows how tourism grew last year to support his wider message of economic growth. This wasn't, however, a message that was well received by various organisations in the tourism industry; organisations such as CEHAT, the Spanish hoteliers federation, and Exceltur, the alliance for tourism excellence. They accused Rajoy of hijacking the tourist data for electioneering purposes, while arguing that, as tourism is proving to be so crucial to economic growth, the government should be doing more to help it by, for instance, reducing IVA. This call for a reduction in the tourist rate (currently 10%) has been a familiar one for several years, and just as familiar has been the refusal of the government to lower it.
José Manuel Soria, the tourism minister, closed the forum by considering the brave new world of the digital economy and how Spain was preparing for it. The country's tourism competitiveness will be enhanced by Spain becoming an "intelligent destination", which is one of those bits of jargon, like sustainability, that tourism politicians enjoy throwing around without ever actually explaining what it means. Meanwhile, the Balearics Tourism Agency was announcing its own version of tourism intelligence - the "Escaparte Turístico Inteligente" no less. And this is? Well, it means intelligent tourism showcase and it is an information system which may prove that the agency hasn't been sitting on its intelligent backside for the past couple of years after all. Long in the promise, it is, or should be, the grand system for social networking and all manner of new ways of tourism management and marketing that we have hoped for. But until it is actually up and running, we will have to hold back our excitement for the moment.
Someone else who was able to quote tourism statistics in Madrid was President Bauzá. The number of tourists coming to the Balearics in 2014 rose by 580,000, making 13,580,000 in total (in 2013 there had obviously been bang on 13 million tourists). 2015 should be even better, especially as a 10% growth in domestic tourism is being forecast. Putting something of a damper on the 2014 performance were the figures released by the national statistics institute which showed that overnight stays in hotels in the Balearics fell by 4% in 2014 (nationally they were up by almost 3%). So, how does one explain the apparent contradiction between what equated to a 4.5% increase in the number of tourists and the 4% drop in overnight stays? The answer will doubtless lie, once the hoteliers get round to explaining this with their usual propaganda, with all the tourists who don't stay in hotels and prefer to fill the pockets of the unfairly competing owners of private apartments and other unregulated accommodation. This may indeed be so, but Bauzá can't have it both ways. He can't brag about increases in tourist numbers while at the same time siding with the hoteliers and decrying a source of tourism growth. He will, though, don't worry about that.
There is, though, another way of interpreting the contradiction, and that is that tourists are opting for shorter holidays in ever greater numbers than previously. And, somewhat ironically perhaps, the new world of the intelligent, digital tourism economy facilitates this greatly, especially because it is the technologically and digitally switched-on Millennial generation which is characterised by its preference for more but shorter holidays. Furthermore, the regional government, with the assistance of Palma 365, is actively encouraging shorter stays through the promotion of city breaks.
José Manuel Soria, the tourism minister, closed the forum by considering the brave new world of the digital economy and how Spain was preparing for it. The country's tourism competitiveness will be enhanced by Spain becoming an "intelligent destination", which is one of those bits of jargon, like sustainability, that tourism politicians enjoy throwing around without ever actually explaining what it means. Meanwhile, the Balearics Tourism Agency was announcing its own version of tourism intelligence - the "Escaparte Turístico Inteligente" no less. And this is? Well, it means intelligent tourism showcase and it is an information system which may prove that the agency hasn't been sitting on its intelligent backside for the past couple of years after all. Long in the promise, it is, or should be, the grand system for social networking and all manner of new ways of tourism management and marketing that we have hoped for. But until it is actually up and running, we will have to hold back our excitement for the moment.
Someone else who was able to quote tourism statistics in Madrid was President Bauzá. The number of tourists coming to the Balearics in 2014 rose by 580,000, making 13,580,000 in total (in 2013 there had obviously been bang on 13 million tourists). 2015 should be even better, especially as a 10% growth in domestic tourism is being forecast. Putting something of a damper on the 2014 performance were the figures released by the national statistics institute which showed that overnight stays in hotels in the Balearics fell by 4% in 2014 (nationally they were up by almost 3%). So, how does one explain the apparent contradiction between what equated to a 4.5% increase in the number of tourists and the 4% drop in overnight stays? The answer will doubtless lie, once the hoteliers get round to explaining this with their usual propaganda, with all the tourists who don't stay in hotels and prefer to fill the pockets of the unfairly competing owners of private apartments and other unregulated accommodation. This may indeed be so, but Bauzá can't have it both ways. He can't brag about increases in tourist numbers while at the same time siding with the hoteliers and decrying a source of tourism growth. He will, though, don't worry about that.
There is, though, another way of interpreting the contradiction, and that is that tourists are opting for shorter holidays in ever greater numbers than previously. And, somewhat ironically perhaps, the new world of the intelligent, digital tourism economy facilitates this greatly, especially because it is the technologically and digitally switched-on Millennial generation which is characterised by its preference for more but shorter holidays. Furthermore, the regional government, with the assistance of Palma 365, is actively encouraging shorter stays through the promotion of city breaks.
Saturday, January 22, 2011
Along For The Ride: Travel fairs and public finance
During the winter the Balearics go on tour. London before Christmas, Madrid and then the biggy, Berlin in March. These are the venues for the three main travel fairs, chances for the great and good and less great and good of Balearic politics and tourism to press some flesh and have their photos taken.
The islands have been to Madrid for FITUR, the Feria Internacional de Turismo en España. In addition to directors and sinecure holders of whatever the tourism agencies are these days, there are hoteliers, airline top brass and of course the politicos. The latter have been in Madrid en masse. President Antich and tourism minister Barceló have been making the most of what may be their last opportunities to partake of the free vino before being taken down in May's elections like stands at the end of an exhibition.
They have been joined by jolly Joe Ray Bowser, the mental-lapsing leader of the Partido Popular, who's presumably been there to try and learn something about tourism. This is the politician who believes that the Baltic States are competitors to Mallorca. He's a shining example of tourism knowledge and, as such, deserves to become president.
Also along for the craic has been Joe Melià. Not the Joe Melià, a minor British television actor, but the Joe Melià, a minor Mallorcan politician, as in the latest in the list of leaders of the Unió Mallorquina. Amazing that he has dared show his face, given his party's involvement with the corruption cases at the tourism ministry and the little local difficulty it is presently experiencing with the waste scandal. "Oi, Melià, what you doing here? Collecting the rubbish?"
This year they have also dragged along kids from the choir at Escolanía de Lluc, which is attached to the monastery. Known as the "Blauets", one of the choir sang the Sibil·la for the assembled dignitaries. All part of promoting Mallorca's newly bestowed "intangible cultural heritage of humanity", that is the Sibil·la, and all very sweet but also all rather clutching at straws if the tourism worthies seriously believe this is going to be something that will have tourists flocking to the island.
A great deal of attention is paid to FITUR and the other fairs, a reflection of the importance of tourism and of all the press opportunities the fairs afford the politicians and the tourism industry. President Antich has seized the moment to state that investment on tourism has never been as high as it has been during his current period of office.
Not that he has said much about spending on tourism promotion this year. In fact he hasn't said anything, because he can't. The tourism ministry is still in negotiations with the treasury which is desperately hunting down the back of its sofa and inside its jacket pockets for any loose change it can come across to pay for some promotion.
Antich was responding to complaints from the hoteliers as to the apparent tardiness with which money is being made available for promotion. But they, the hoteliers, will be aware of just how dicey the Balearics' financial state has become. It is not as parlous as that of Catalonia which started selling debt to its own people in October because it is more or less shut out of international capital markets, but it isn't in a healthy position. At the same time as the politicians have been enjoying themselves in Madrid, the regional government has decided to follow Catalonia (and also Valencia and the Basque Country) in selling public debt to the initial tune of 200 million euros. Catalonia, despite the sale, is said to have only a couple of months' worth of reserves.
The FITUR fair has been a case of putting on a brave face. By the time the Balearics take Berlin in March, hopefully the debt sale will have been that successful that there will be cash floating around that has been earmarked for tourism promotion. But the Balearics, as with the other autonomous regions of Spain, are firmly under the central-government microscope, Zapatero having warned that the government will intervene if necessary to control the regions' debts. The governor of the Bank of Spain has said that the regions may pose the "greatest risk" to Spain's finances (as reported by "Bloomberg Businessweek" back in October).
All this suggests, therefore, that money is going to be even tighter than might have been imagined, which means that it will be even tighter for tourism promotion. It's not a particularly optimistic picture, and the whole issue of regional funding is likely to get worse. Which makes you wonder what participation at future fairs is going to be like and, more importantly, how capable Mallorca and the Balearics are going be in promoting themselves.
The days of the junkets at the fairs might be over, and if you want just one example of what is spent on them, other than the costs of shipping the politicos and the rest, then look no further than the new stand at FITUR - just over two million euros. Is this a lot? Perhaps not, but it becomes so when you realise what the government is trying to raise through its bonds.
Any comments to andrew@thealcudiaguide.com please.
The islands have been to Madrid for FITUR, the Feria Internacional de Turismo en España. In addition to directors and sinecure holders of whatever the tourism agencies are these days, there are hoteliers, airline top brass and of course the politicos. The latter have been in Madrid en masse. President Antich and tourism minister Barceló have been making the most of what may be their last opportunities to partake of the free vino before being taken down in May's elections like stands at the end of an exhibition.
They have been joined by jolly Joe Ray Bowser, the mental-lapsing leader of the Partido Popular, who's presumably been there to try and learn something about tourism. This is the politician who believes that the Baltic States are competitors to Mallorca. He's a shining example of tourism knowledge and, as such, deserves to become president.
Also along for the craic has been Joe Melià. Not the Joe Melià, a minor British television actor, but the Joe Melià, a minor Mallorcan politician, as in the latest in the list of leaders of the Unió Mallorquina. Amazing that he has dared show his face, given his party's involvement with the corruption cases at the tourism ministry and the little local difficulty it is presently experiencing with the waste scandal. "Oi, Melià, what you doing here? Collecting the rubbish?"
This year they have also dragged along kids from the choir at Escolanía de Lluc, which is attached to the monastery. Known as the "Blauets", one of the choir sang the Sibil·la for the assembled dignitaries. All part of promoting Mallorca's newly bestowed "intangible cultural heritage of humanity", that is the Sibil·la, and all very sweet but also all rather clutching at straws if the tourism worthies seriously believe this is going to be something that will have tourists flocking to the island.
A great deal of attention is paid to FITUR and the other fairs, a reflection of the importance of tourism and of all the press opportunities the fairs afford the politicians and the tourism industry. President Antich has seized the moment to state that investment on tourism has never been as high as it has been during his current period of office.
Not that he has said much about spending on tourism promotion this year. In fact he hasn't said anything, because he can't. The tourism ministry is still in negotiations with the treasury which is desperately hunting down the back of its sofa and inside its jacket pockets for any loose change it can come across to pay for some promotion.
Antich was responding to complaints from the hoteliers as to the apparent tardiness with which money is being made available for promotion. But they, the hoteliers, will be aware of just how dicey the Balearics' financial state has become. It is not as parlous as that of Catalonia which started selling debt to its own people in October because it is more or less shut out of international capital markets, but it isn't in a healthy position. At the same time as the politicians have been enjoying themselves in Madrid, the regional government has decided to follow Catalonia (and also Valencia and the Basque Country) in selling public debt to the initial tune of 200 million euros. Catalonia, despite the sale, is said to have only a couple of months' worth of reserves.
The FITUR fair has been a case of putting on a brave face. By the time the Balearics take Berlin in March, hopefully the debt sale will have been that successful that there will be cash floating around that has been earmarked for tourism promotion. But the Balearics, as with the other autonomous regions of Spain, are firmly under the central-government microscope, Zapatero having warned that the government will intervene if necessary to control the regions' debts. The governor of the Bank of Spain has said that the regions may pose the "greatest risk" to Spain's finances (as reported by "Bloomberg Businessweek" back in October).
All this suggests, therefore, that money is going to be even tighter than might have been imagined, which means that it will be even tighter for tourism promotion. It's not a particularly optimistic picture, and the whole issue of regional funding is likely to get worse. Which makes you wonder what participation at future fairs is going to be like and, more importantly, how capable Mallorca and the Balearics are going be in promoting themselves.
The days of the junkets at the fairs might be over, and if you want just one example of what is spent on them, other than the costs of shipping the politicos and the rest, then look no further than the new stand at FITUR - just over two million euros. Is this a lot? Perhaps not, but it becomes so when you realise what the government is trying to raise through its bonds.
Any comments to andrew@thealcudiaguide.com please.
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